The field of this invention relates to hearing aids and more particularly to an apparatus which facilitates cleaning of the canal formed within the hearing aid.
The development of the electronic hearing aid was the biggest advance ever made in helping people that are hard of hearing. Hearing aids are now in widespread use by millions of people. All hearing aids are fundamentally simple acoustic amplifying systems and consist of four basic parts: a microphone to pick up the sound and convert it to a small electrical signal; an amplifier to increase the size of the electrical signal; an earphone (receiver) to turn the electrical signal into an acoustic signal which is then fed into the ear through an ear mold; and, a source of power for the amplifier which is usually a battery. The ear mold is essential for fitting the hearing aid to the user. The ear mold is usually made of plastic and is commonly molded from an impression taken of the user's ear so that it is custom fitted.
For purposes of appearance, it is common that the ear molds be worn within the ear making the hearing aid not readily observable. Not only is the hearing aid custom designed for the physical structure of the particular individual's ear, but also, hearing aids are now being custom designed for the tones which that particular individual has trouble hearing. Each hearing aid has a canal (a very thin, elongated hole) that connects the electronics of the hearing aid to the ear canal of the user. The canal within the hearing aid is designed to be of a specific length for that particular individual depending upon what particular tone level or levels that the user has difficulty hearing. As the hearing aid is worn, it is common that this tiny canal collects earwax from the user's ear. It does not take much earwax for this hearing aid to become inoperative.
Because the diameter of this canal is so small, previous to the present invention, it has been difficult for the user to use a tool to clean this canal. The inner end of this canal terminates in a flexible vibrating diaphragm. If this diaphragm is contacted by a tool, it can be destroyed.
Hearing aid manufacturers have in the past suggested using a "scoop" to clean this canal. However, this scoop is ineffective due to the following reasons: (1) The scoop when entering the canal compacts the wax inward therefore is effective in only scraping the wax from the wall of the canal. (2) many excursions have to be made to effectively scrap all portions of the wall of the canal. (3) This cleaning process is tedious besides being ineffective. Many of the users are elderly people who do this cleaning infrequently due to its cumbersome nature. (4) The length of the canal is not within the view as the scoop moves into the canal. There is always a possibility to damage the hearing aid speaker diaphragm by deep passage of the scoop into the canal.
Therefore, in the past in order to affect proper cleaning of this canal, it was necessary for the individual to take the hearing aid back to the manufacturer where the manufacturer physically open up the hearing aid and cleans this canal. However, this taking of the hearing aid back to the manufacturer is time consuming and expensive. Plus, there is a certain period of time that the user is without the use of the hearing aid.
Quite frequently, a single user may wear a hearing aid in both the right ear and the left ear. This designing of any tool to clean the hearing aid is complicated because the length of the canal of the hearing aid in the right ear may be of a different length than the one in the left ear. Therefore, to use the exact same tool to clean the hearing aid of both the right ear and the left ear may result in permanent damage to either (or both) hearing aids.